Astros drop series after extra-inning battle with Rays in finale

Tal’s Hill took it away. Brett Wallace gave it back. Then Yunel Escobar reclaimed what originally belonged to Tampa Bay.

Escobar’s 11th-inning go-ahead RBI double handed the Rays a 7-5 victory and a series win Thursday at Minute Maid Park before an announced crowd of 20,470.

Wallace went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBIs, turning a 5-2 eighth-inning deficit into a 5-5 tie with a towering three-run blast to right field off Rays (46-40) reliever Joel Peralta.

Astros (31-55) righthander Jordan Lyles threw 6 2/3 innings of six-hit, two-run ball, striking out three and exiting with the contest tied at 2. It was Lyles’ smoothest outing since June 12 but he was still uneven at times, walking three on 98 pitches (57 strikes). Lyles, 22, struggled mightily during his last two appearances, giving up 15 hits and 12 runs (nine earned).

Rays righty Chris Archer made it through six frames, holding the Astros to two hits and two runs, striking out five and walking three.

Tampa Bay’s Desmond Jennings led off the game with a double that nearly cleared the left-center field wall. Matt Joyce followed with a line-drive single to right field and it was 1-0 Rays after Evan Longoria’s RBI groundout to Wallace near third base scored Jennings.

The Astros didn’t record a hit off Archer until the fourth inning. Wallace made sure it counted. Clubbing his second home run in five games, the lefthanded Wallace went opposite field, stroking a smooth blast on a 1-1, 96 mph fastball to tie the contest at 1.

A double steal by Brandon Barnes and Jimmy Paredes set up the Astros’ second run, which crossed home via a Jake Elmore sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. The Astros only had two hits through five frames. But Archer was at 80 pitches and a small-ball manufactured run had put the Astros 12 outs away from splitting the series.

The Rays went through five innings without a run before a two-out rally in the seventh tied the game. Yunel Escobar reached on a force out. Jennings then doubled to left-center. With runners on second and third and two outs, Lyles fell behind Joyce, 2-1. The fourth pitch flew high and wide to the lefthander, hitting the back screen via a wild pitch and allowing Escobar to easily score, tying the game at 2.

The eighth started poorly for the Astros and only got worse. Righthanded reliever Jose Cisnero put Longoria on first via a four-pitch walk. Rookie Wil Myers lined a double to left field. Cisnero then fell behind 3-0 to Kelly Johnson, who was intentionally walked. A groundout by Jose Lobaton scored pinch-runner Sam Fuld. Then Escobar blasted a double to deep center field. With Barnes racing backward, Escobar’s shot kept flying. Barnes fell down running up Tal’s Hill, two more runs scored, and a three-run inning made it 5-2 Rays.

Peralta set up Wallace’s second home run by walking Elmore, the No. 9 hitter, to start off the bottom of the eighth. A bloop single to shallow center field by Jose Altuve followed. Then Wallace dug into an 81 mph splitter that nearly hit a Minute Maid Park roof beam before landing in the right-field stands, suddenly tying the game at 5.

The Astros placed runners on first and second with one out in the 10th. But Rays reliever Jamey Wright struck out Chris Carter and J.D. Martinez to extend the game.

Josh Fields walked Lobaton to start off the 11th. Escobar then sliced a double down the right-field line, giving Tampa Bay back the lead. A wild pitch by reliever Wesley Wright pushed Escobar across home, giving the Rays a two-run advantage with the Astros’ 6-8 hitters coming up and Tampa Bay’s Fernando Rodney taking the mound to finally put the Astros away.